<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Kya on the loose by froopsen</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26011912">Kya on the loose</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/froopsen/pseuds/froopsen'>froopsen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bloodbending, F/F, F/M, Healing, eventual kyalin don't worry, will add tags as story progresses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:01:26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,124</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26011912</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/froopsen/pseuds/froopsen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>update 22/01/2021: This is being put on hold - so no more chapters. I don't know for how long.</p><p>This work will be focused on Kya, her travels, experience, growth and the development of Kya/Lin.</p><p>Thank you to the dearest pasta, @Linguini, for beta-reading this! :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Izumi/Kya II (Avatar), Lin Beifong/Kya II, Lin Beifong/Tenzin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Family</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I just felt like Kya's character doesn't always get the attention it deserves and I wanted to see how dabbeling into her world and the change of her character would be like. :) Hope you enjoy it. (Let's be honest, rating will probably increase throughout)</p><p> </p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ages in this chapter (because we have to somehow show the passing of time….I couldn’t find a lot on the ages of the siblings, so I just went with what seemed logical to me)<br/>Kya: 19<br/>Bumi: 25<br/>Tenzin: 15<br/>Lin: 14</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kya looked out the window of her room. Their garden looked so peaceful in summer and she loved the way; she could just wander off to the beach when she wanted to. She had planned on traveling as soon as she was old enough ever since the first time Sokka had told her about her parents’ and uncle’s trip around the four nations while simultaneously ending the 100-year-war. Yes, it was dangerous to travel, but she was older than they had been when they had started out, her training was mostly over, and she could pick up different techniques while traveling. Her parents really had no arguments against it. She had already brought up the idea to Uncle Sokka a few times in their conversations and today he had sent her a letter, telling her that she should do it and a few ways to strategically get her parents to agree with her. Her mother didn’t like how he seemed to conspire with her children, but Kya loved the way he always gave her secret insight. She never doubted that he was on her side, no matter how disturbing she thought her thoughts or feelings to be, when coming to him for advice.</p><p><em>This is so awesome</em>, she thought running down the stairs. It was time for lunch and therefore the best time to tell everyone.</p><p>Her mother poured the noodle soup she had made into a few bowls and watched the door. Her daughter came rushing in as usual, seemingly more impatient than ever.</p><p>“What’s got you so excited?”</p><p>Kya smiled. “I’ll wait till everyone’s seated,” she said, taking her chopsticks in anticipation of the delicious meal. She noticed that there was one bowl missing. “Is dad not hungry?”</p><p>Her mother shook her head. “No, sweetheart, he had to go to a council meeting. He’ll be back this evening.”</p><p>Kya’s expression darkened instantly. “Of course he will.”</p><p>After that disappointing news she had to wait until her mother had called her brothers to the table. Then she had to wait until everyone had been served or served themselves and just when she thought she had caught the right moment to tell them, Bumi started telling everyone about his last excursion to Republic City.</p><p>“And <em>that</em> was when they told me I should be a commander. I mean, can’t you just see how amazing I would look on top of those huge ships?”</p><p>Tenzin’s stoic expression didn’t budge. “You always rush into things. Dad told me yesterday that--“</p><p>Kya interrupted him, “Well at least he talks to you.” She wasn’t in the mood to hear about the last bonding time their dad had with the precious airbender. Ignoring her mother’s warning glance, she turned to Bumi. “I think you’d look great on that ship. I guess you’ll have to apply to the United Forces before you can become a commander though.” </p><p>Bumi smiled at his younger sister. “Thank you, Kya.”</p><p>“And I guess you’ll have to wait for Dad’s permission. He’ll be back this evening. Or at least that’s what mom said.” She’d wanted to hold back. She had made the promise not to be as snappy when it came to her father just a few days ago, but she couldn’t contain her disappointment sometimes.</p><p>Their mother, who had been listening to the conversation so far, finally chimed in. “Don’t be so hard on your father, he’s trying his best to balance things.”</p><p>“Yeah…I know.” She sighed and tried to remind herself that this was just how things were. She knew her dad loved her and he didn’t have it all that easy. People expected him to be all-knowing and to give himself up for their sake without questioning how that might affect him – or his family. It couldn’t be easy. She knew that. Nonetheless, it sometimes still got to her that he seemed to spend more time with her little brother than with Bumi and her combined. And it wasn’t just because he was younger than them. That’s what she used to tell herself until she realized that it probably had less to do with their age and more with the bending-abilities they had been born with – or, rather, the one they hadn’t been born with.</p><p>“Well, how about you tell us what had you running around the house today?”</p><p>Kya smiled at her mom, glad for the change of topic. “I’m going to travel the world,” she burst out, not wanting to keep it to herself any longer.</p><p>“With whom?” Tenzin asked.</p><p>“No one. Just me.” Kya answered, not surprised, but slightly disappointed in his mild reaction.</p><p>Bumi wrapped an arm around his sister, pressing her against his side. “I knew you’d make the right choice!” he said, ruffling her hair a little. She had talked to him about her wish to travel and how badly she wanted to get out of the city. He had understood her drive and the thirst for experience. It would do her good to get a little distance to her life here, and the people.</p><p>Their mother chose her words wisely. “I’m happy for you. It’s an amazing idea, but--“</p><p>Her children turned to look at her.</p><p>“But should you not wait a few more years? Continue your water-bending-training with me? You are so agile and inventive in combat and your healing powers are even stronger. It would be a waste of talent if you didn’t continue training.”</p><p>Kya crossed her arms. She knew her mother would say something like this, and she was well prepared. “Well, you were younger than me when you left with dad, and on top of that your bending wasn’t at its best either.” They had talked about it just a few days ago when Kya sought out the conversation. She knew her mother would need a little convincing.</p><p>The older waterbender smiled, remembering the past. “Yes, you are right, but times were different then.”</p><p>“Yes, they were, but that won’t change my mind,” Kya said softly, “I’m not planning on stopping my training. On the contrary. I want to try and find different waterbending techniques. Don’t you think it’s a good idea to travel to all the different people? Learning waterbending with the tribe in the swamp or visiting the north pole. You said they had the best healers there.”</p><p>Bumi and Tenzin listened closely to the conversation.</p><p>“Oh Kya, you know I can’t argue that experience will teach you more than I can at this point. You’ll just have to let me worry a little. It’s my job as your mother, after all.” She sighed, placing her hand on her chest, “I’m just so proud of all of you.”</p><p>The children smiled as they knew how emotional their mother could get when it came to the love she had for them. “Thanks mom,” they said in unison, causing all of them to laugh.</p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>After lunch, she went and helped her mother in the kitchen. “Do you think Dad will be happy about it?”</p><p>“Of course he will,” the older woman said, while scrubbing one bowl at a time, reaching them over to her daughter. “Why wouldn’t he?”</p><p>Kya shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know…I just want him to be proud like you are.”</p><p>“He is. We often talk about the three of you and he just recently pointed out how much progress you’ve made over the past months. Not just spiritually, but also in regard to your bending. I know it can sometimes seem like he doesn’t have that much time for the four of us, but he notices every little change. Especially in you since your aura is so clear.”</p><p>Kya smiled broadly. “Thank you, mom. This means a lot to me. I know I can be a little on edge sometimes. Quick to say some things I regret later on.”</p><p>“Don’t worry too much about it. You deserve to let your feelings out. Just always remember how your actions affect others.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. I know. Can you finish this alone? I want to talk to Bumi before Dad gets here.”</p><p>Her mother hesitated for a moment but then nodded in permission. “Tell Tenzin to come and help me instead,” she said loudly, making sure her daughter heard her as she was already halfway out the door.</p><p>Kya went outside looking for her older brother to find both her siblings standing next to Lin who had apparently just got here. “Hey, Beifong. What are you doing here?” she asked, pulling her into side-hug and leaving a kiss on her cheek.</p><p>“I just came to see Tenzin,” the younger girl said, blushing slightly.</p><p>Kya and Bumi exchanged a knowing look. “Well, mom said she wants you to help her in the kitchen,” Kya informed her brother before turning to Lin, “So you can either go inside with him to do the dishes, or you can come with Bumi and me. We’re going down to the beach for a while.”</p><p>Bumi looked at her. “We are?” he questioned, excitement in his voice.</p><p>“Yeah. I wanted to talk to you before Dad came home. But if Lin’s here maybe we can do something else instead.”</p><p>Lin looked at Kya, then diverted her gaze to Tenzin again. “I don’t have any sunscreen. Besides, I wanted to spend some time with Tenzin.”</p><p>“Your loss,” Kya shrugged, “Come on, Bumi. See you around, Beifong.”</p><p>As the two older siblings set out to leave, Kya could hear Lin asking her brother, “Why does she always have to call me that?” and she couldn’t help but giggle to herself a little.</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Bumi smiled at his younger sister. “So where d’you wanna go first on your journey?”</p><p>Kya let herself fall down onto the ground, feeling the warm sand beneath her. “I want to visit Izumi for a while…she said she wanted me to see a little bit of the Fire Nation and who better to spend time there with than her?”</p><p>“The two of you have been writing an awful lot of letters to each other in the past few months, huh?”</p><p>Kya blushed and looked away from her brother. “What, you jealous?”</p><p>“No,” he teased, “I just noticed how you turn red as a tomato when you get yet another letter from her.”</p><p>“Well we’re good friends. Why wouldn’t I be excited?”</p><p>Bumi poked her in the side. “Just friends?”</p><p>Kya made a swift motion and Bumi was greeted by a swish of water to his face. “Fair enough. But seriously Kya,” he tried once more, “Do you want to be just friends with her?”</p><p>Kya had to smile at the thought of Izumi. Her brother was right, they had been writing each other a lot lately. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to see, what becomes of it when I meet her again in person.”</p><p>Bumi grinned at his confirmed suspicion. “Well, keep me updated on that one,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.</p><p>“Ha! You wish! She’d be all mine if that wasn’t clear.”</p><p>Bumi clapped his hands together. “I knew it,” he exclaimed before Kya turned serious again.</p><p>“I just feel so close to her. She seems to get me, somehow. She’s different enough to be intriguing and yet, familiar enough to just…know me. And there is the perk of her being part of the child-of-a-legend-club. I don’t think people understand what it’s like… ever, really.”</p><p>“You’re right about that, but I’ve found that the ones who don’t know what it’s like really dig it when you tell them you’re the avatar’s kid.”</p><p>Kya rolled her eyes. “You never cease to tell me about your escapades. How could I forget about it?”</p><p>Bumi shrugged. “I’m sure gonna miss you when you leave.”</p><p>“I know. I’ll miss you, too. But I’ll write you and maybe you can find it in you to actually reply.”</p><p>Bumi laughed. “You always mock me for my handwriting, so don’t even wonder if I don’t answer your letters.”</p><p>“Well that’s because the figures you put down on paper can barely be called handwriting.”</p><p>“Maybe Izumi can help you…relax a little…you know…address your issues…or…undress them…or you…”</p><p>“<em>Bumi</em>!” Kya cringed, “That doesn’t even make any sense. Your effort to make inappropriate jokes out of everything is really starting to make me wonder if that soldier career of yours is going to last very long.”</p><p>“First of all there’s no effort in my jokes if you’re actually planning on doing – well – the undressing. And second of all, I will have you know, that the application is already through. I just didn’t want to tell everyone about it, before I actually sent it in. Didn’t want to be talked out of doing it.”</p><p>Kya smiled, remembering how many of his plans had been abandoned because either their parents or she herself had talked him out of them. “I’m happy for you. You’ll have to at least write to me about that.”</p><p>“Fine. I promise. Let’s get back to the house now, before the two lovebirds do something mom won’t be happy about.”</p><p>Kya chuckled, “Like what? A kiss on the lips? They’re both way too shy.”</p><p>“Who knows. We both know that shyness won’t last all that long.”</p><p>“Yeah. That we do know.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A bunch of Firsts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ages in this chapter (because we have to somehow show the passing of time…usually I'd say Izumi is even younger than Kya, but for consent-purposes I made it like this...because it's fanfic and I can)<br/>Kya: 20<br/>Izumi: 19</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kya and Izumi had traveled all of the Fire Nation, and they had grown to be even closer. In many ways, Izumi had been closer to her than anyone else before. Yet the time had come for Kya to continue her journey and Izumi – however badly she wanted to – couldn’t join her.</p><p>“Hey there,” Izumi said watching Kya sitting on the side of the bed.</p><p>Kya diverted her gaze from the backpack that she had just shoved her things into to look up at the young woman standing in the doorframe. “Hey there. You look beautiful tonight,” she said, noticing the fine dress.</p><p>Izumi smiled and sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around Kya. “Are you alright? You seem off.”</p><p>Kya turned her face to kiss Izumi on the lips. “I’m going to miss this, that’s all.”</p><p>Izumi kissed her once more.</p><p>“Maybe I should stay. Just a few more weeks,” Kya said doubting her previous decision.</p><p>“No you should not,” Izumi said, making eye-contact, “This was fun. I enjoyed it as much as you did, but we both know that there is so much more to come. I’m going to be Fire Lord one day and you need to work on your bending, like you promised your mother.”</p><p>Kya sighed, falling back on the bed. <em>I’m always so quick to get caught up in the moment.</em> “I know. Some days I wish my future was as mapped out as yours is for you. Then I remember how you told me that it can also suck sometimes.” </p><p>“Yes. Everything has up and down-sides. Your bending is strong and so is your healing.”</p><p>“You sound like my mom,” Kya groaned.</p><p>“I hope not. I don’t think she would approve of half the things we’ve been up to in the last few months.”</p><p>Kya grinned widely and pulled her down next to her. “Well, it seems I had <em>some </em>good influence on you after all.”</p><p>“Wait,” Izumi said when Kya was about to kiss her again, “I want to say one more thing.”</p><p>Kya rolled her eyes. “You talk too much,” she said, but still obliged and let her speak.</p><p>“I’m so glad you chose to spend so much time with me, really. I learned a lot from and with you and I think you have, too.”</p><p>Kya smiled. They had discovered a lot of things about the Fire Nation and themselves while visiting the different cities and places. “I might be able to show you one more thing before I leave tomorrow morning,” she said, undoing the zipper of Izumi’s dress.</p><p>“I can’t wait, seeing as this will be the last time, I guess.”</p><p>“Well then we better make it a good one.”</p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>The night had passed rather quickly, and in the morning, when Kya was ready to leave, she shouldered her backpack and went to say her good-bye to Izumi. Zuko came down the stairs in front of the palace. “Kya, I’m glad I could find you. There’s one more letter for you. It looks a little smudgy.”</p><p>Kya laughed, “It must be from Bumi then. Thank you. And again, I appreciate you for letting me live here.”</p><p>“Well,” he stated, “I’m glad you came here. Izumi really enjoyed herself while she was with you and the rest of us enjoyed the conversation you made at the dinner table. You are a very capable, intelligent young woman and I look forward to seeing you again in the future.”</p><p>Zuko looked over to his daughter who nodded in agreement. He bowed slightly, in Fire Nation tradition. Kya did the same and waited until Zuko had left before turning to Izumi for a hug.</p><p>“By the way, you’re going to make a great Fire Lord, I’m sure of it.”</p><p>“Thank you. It means a lot to me, as you know.” She kissed Kya. "Hold out your hand."</p><p>“What is this?” Kya asked while Izumi placed a shiny object in her palm.</p><p>“It’s a broach. I thought you might like it as a souvenir,” she explained.</p><p>“Come here again,” Kya said kissing her once more, “I really appreciate it. I don’t have anything for you, though.”</p><p>“That’s alright. I don’t need any more jewelry.”</p><p>“I better get going then…”</p><p>“Safe travels, my friend.”</p><p>She smiled again and then set foot towards the gigantic doors of the palace.  Kya thought. That’s what they’d be again from now on. She was fine with it, but it felt weird, considering everything they had shared. She didn’t turn around again, too scared she’d be overcome with the wish to stay, like she had yesterday. </p><p>She was always sure her decisions where the right ones, but in certain moments her feelings seemed so strong that she couldn’t resist them. Of course traveling was the thing she had set out to do and she was looking forward to all the places she was going to visit and the people she was yet to meet, but then again, she felt at home so easily anywhere she went. She felt torn in so many ways.</p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>A few days had passed and she was well on her way to the northern water tribe. She had originally planned to visit the Air Temples first, but she and Izumi had talked about it a lot before and they had agreed that she should try and focus on her bending first. Whilst the monks at the temples would be able to help her in her spiritual journey, she had made a promise to her mother after all. <em>Seems like Izumi rubbed off on me a little, too,</em> she thought to herself.</p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>When she arrived a week later, her jaw dropped at the size of the outer wall. She had been to the southern water tribe once with her family, right before Tenzin had been born, but the enormous size of the northern architecture was a whole new experience.</p><p>“We’re almost there!” said one of the men, whose boat she was on. “Better get all your things.”</p><p>“This is so beautiful!” she simply replied.</p><p>“I know. Looks amazing, doesn’t it. I look forward to seeing my family again. It’s been a while.”</p><p>She smiled and packed up the remainder of her things.</p><p>“Where will you live?”</p><p>Kya shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know yet…I’ll probably find someone who’ll have me. If not, I’ll just have to bend myself an igloo.”</p><p>The man looked at her in disbelief. “It gets really cold here. Are you sure you don’t have anywhere to go?”</p><p>“Relax, I’ll find a place,” she assured him.</p><p>He sighed. The young woman had a lot to learn, but that wasn’t of any concern to him.</p><p>“Thank you for taking me with you,” Kya said, handing him a small pouch with money.</p><p>“Thank you for the delicious meals you prepared for us in return,” he winked, “the crew really isn’t used to eating anything but dried meat.”</p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>She quickly found out that it wasn’t as easy as she had imagined everything to be. She spent weeks in the igloo she had built for herself and it was still very cold in comparison to the bigger huts and houses in the inner city. Seeing as she didn’t want to spend all of her money on things she would eventually have to leave behind, she hadn’t bought anything other than a small petrol lamp and a thick fur to sleep on.</p><p>After a few more days of relaxing and roaming the city, occasionally finding people who were extroverted enough to join her evening adventures, going to bars and having fun altogether, she decided it was time to see if she could find her way to the healers' huts. Her mother had told her all about her time at the northern water tribe and she was looking forward to learning more about the culture of her people – especially the healing practice.</p><p>Kya wandered through the streets, trying to find what – or rather who – she was looking for. While she had a good orientation – especially after having been there for a while – she still didn’t know every corner and got lost now and then.</p><p>She wondered how everyone back home was doing. She hadn’t yet received any letters for a while. She pondered if the one she’d sent informing Bumi that she was now at the north pole would have already arrived. She imagined him reading it in his room and sighed. She never missed her family – or Izumi – while she was enjoying herself, but as soon as she had a quiet moment to herself, usually before going to bed, the joyful memories kept flashing before her mind’s eye. The last few days spending as much time with Bumi as possible, persuading her Dad to reserve an afternoon just for the two of them. She hadn’t said good-bye to a lot of her friends back home, not even Uncle Sokka or Lin. <em> Sokka knew of my plans though and there’s no reason I can’t write him a letter soon,</em> she tried to make herself feel less guilty for not visiting him once more before leaving,<em> and Lin will have found out through Tenzin. </em> If they were a couple by now? She didn’t understand how their dynamic worked, but they both seemed to like each other a lot, so who was she to doubt them. </p><p>Mostly, her mind was preoccupied with Izumi and the time they had spent together. She didn’t feel heartbroken, it was nothing like that, but she just appreciated the intimacy they had shared. It had taken a little getting used to in the beginning. Izumi was different in person than in her letters. Even more stoic and elegant. It was weird at first, trying to have longer conversations, searching for topics they hadn’t already discussed through letter, but at some point the ice had been broken and their physical attraction towards each other had taken over a lot of, soon found to be unnecessary, conversation.</p><p>When she found the school where the healers practiced and taught, a sigh escaped her mouth upon seeing a statue of her mother. There was no doubt she would find a teacher here.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Of spirits and healers</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>[A week later]</p><p>Being the Avatar’s daughter had its advantages all over the four nations but being Katara’s daughter seemed to pique the interest of even more people – at least here. It got Kya some special treatment, which she usually didn’t like, but she took the opportunity at hand and visited the lake Uncle Sokka had told her everything about. She watched in awe of the spirits swimming circles, seemingly dancing with each other, and felt a strange energy in the oasis as she sat there. A servant came in, checking on her and breaking her trance-like state.</p><p>“It’s been hours. You missed dinner. Are you alright?” she asked </p><p>“Yes, I’m fine, thank you. I’d like to stay a little longer, would that be alright?”</p><p>The girl hesitated before answering, “I’m supposed to come get you…one of the healers wants to talk to you.”</p><p>Kya sighed, “I’ll be there in a few moments.” After the girl had left, she turned her head towards the sky. Everything was illuminated by the light of the moon and she felt herself getting melancholic at the sight. She felt closer to her element and everyone back in Republic City, knowing they were sharing the same moonlight, though it seemed nothing compared to Uncle Sokka must feel like anytime he looked at the moon. She never fully comprehended his story about Yue, but it was something so magical that she didn’t care if it had actually happened or not.</p><p>The body of water near her feet kept drawing her attention, and she finally gave in to the temptation of touching it, sending ripples through the surface. Her eyes widened at the strong energy gripping at her hands. The cool  feeling traveled upwards, clinging to her arms as she leaned in further. She was on her knees, arms deep inside, and the spirits swam over to her, both grazing her skin, drawing close circles around her tan arms. Kya wanted to dive in completely and knelt, her lips briefly feeling the surface, when a warm touch to her shoulders pulled her back. Away. Droplets were left on her arms, rolling along the maze of goosebumps, landing on her clothes or falling to the ground.</p><p>“You have to be careful with that," a gentle voice said.</p><p>She looked up and recognized the master healer who was leading her class. She remembered the servant that had come to get her a few moments ago.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I was just on my way.”</p><p>“I waited for an hour. When you didn’t show I thought it would be best to go look for you myself.”</p><p>Kya furrowed her brows in disbelief. <em>Had it really been that long?</em></p><p>“You felt it, didn’t you?” the healer asked.</p><p>“The energy?”</p><p>She nodded. “You have to be more careful. It could have taken over.”</p><p>Kya still hadn’t fully cleared her head from the spell the water seemed to have on her. “It was unreal. Have you touched it?”</p><p>“No, I don’t trust myself enough. You’re lucky I was here.”  The healer's face was stern, her voice protective even.</p><p>Kya furrowed her brows in confusion, “You make it sound so horrible. But it didn’t feel dangerous at all.”</p><p>“What did it make you feel?”</p><p>“I can’t really describe it. It just felt like-“ she gathered her thoughts, touching her arms, trying to remember the feeling, “Like I was supposed to find something I’ve been looking for. Some sort of reconnection. That’s what it was like. Have you really never touched it?”</p><p>“No.”  The healer's voice was firm, ending the discussion.</p><p>Kya rose, letting her gaze fall to where she had just rested her hands moments ago. It was like the spirits kept calling out to her to join them again, their motions fluid like the water itself and with the same pull the moon had on the tides. She ignored it, or tried her best to do so, turning to the healer again who gestured for them to leave. Kya set her feet in motion and followed her through the streets, though her thoughts remained with the spirits. As she looked down on her wrists, where they had circled her, she noticed small cuts, droplets of blood already drying.</p><p>The master healer asked to speak to her in private and said that from now on she wanted to give her private sessions, because she felt that she was bored in class with the others. Kya felt guilty as it had to have been obvious for the older woman to notice.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she said, “I just know most of the stuff already. I’ll try to hide it better. I really enjoy learning from you.”</p><p>She shook her head. “Oh no, don’t worry, this isn’t supposed to be a lecture on group learning and its benefits. I realize you know of your potential and the strength within you. I want to help you to fully reach that potential.”</p><p>She smiled, “Thank you, I’d very much like that. My – “ she sighed, “My mother always says what a capable healer I am.” She usually tried to speak of her parents as little as possible when it came to her bending abilities. Everyone had always been quick to say how it was only logical that her powers would be strong, when the avatar himself was her father and therefore teacher. Needless to say, learning from one of the best from a young age had its benefits, but Kya had worked hard to build her strength and ability. It always felt to her as though people didn’t recognize the work she had put in to become as good as she was now. Would they ever stop dismissing her like that?</p><p>“My older sister was in training to become a healer when Master Katara visited us in her youth.”</p><p><em>Master Katara,</em> she repeated in her head and wondered if people would ever talk about her like that; with such awe in their voices.<br/>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>[Two weeks later]</p><p>“Slower,” the healer said, reaching across the dummy, showing Kya how to do it.</p><p>“Like this?” she asked, trying to move as slowly as she could.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“I never know when it’s slow enough,” she uttered in frustration.</p><p>“If it feels as though it were a little too slow, that’s the right speed. You need to give the energy time to flow to your fingertips. It’s like dropping a pebble into water. When you let go you have to wait for it to land before you can hear and feel the effect of your action.”</p><p>Kya giggled, “That sounds like a philosophical life-lesson.”</p><p>The healer smiled in return, “Well, it kind of is. What do you think healing is?” she tried testing her student’s knowledge.</p><p>Kya shrugged her shoulders, “Mending broken bones and healing bruises.”</p><p>“Yes, that too. That’s not what I meant. Use your brain, I know you better than that by now.”</p><p>Kya looked down to her hands where the light blue was still glowing as she was moving through the new form. “It’s a transfer of energy. Qi flowing like and within the water, masking their differences all the while aligning their similarities.”</p><p>The older woman smiled at her student. “See, I knew you understood more than you pretended.”</p><p>Kya bent the water into one of the bowls on the side. “I wish I had more of that patience of yours.”</p><p>The healer noticed the change in Kya’s voice and approached, sitting down next to her. “You just have to give yourself time. That’s where you can start. Be patient with yourself. Once you understand that you don’t have to rush everything and that you don’t have to know everything at first try, you’ll become more patient with other things as well.” She reassuringly squeezed Kya’s shoulder.</p><p>She smiled and leaned on the older woman to rest on her shoulder. She felt safe around her. “I –“ she stuttered, wanting to hug her.</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“Nothing, just thank you for the advice.”</p><p><em>I wish I could stay like this,</em> Kya thought right before sitting back up straight.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Forbidden Practice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That evening, Kya went to one of the bars – alone this time. She drank a little and watched as others slowly danced to the music. She had been to this certain bar more than the others, though with the training intensifying and sometimes straining her qi to an extremely high level, she hadn’t been out much at all lately. Yet, she had been here enough times to notice how the atmosphere was drastically different tonight. The usually loud crowd seemed to have been replaced by a calmer one, most of them swaying mindlessly to the slow music. It wasn’t dull, but in comparison to the normally loud and fast music – perfect for dancing – it seemed to be almost unfitting for the place.</p><p>She would have liked it if she weren’t already too deep in her thoughts today. She had come her hoping for a distraction. One of today’s patients had not made it through a healing session. Her teacher told her many times that it hadn’t been their fault, how he had already come to see her twice that month and had never listened to her advice. In the end it had been a blood clot, stuck in his heart and they had just been able to slightly ease his pain as he lay there and took what felt like forever to finally loose the fight against the stinging in his chest. It had seemed cruel and left her feeling helpless. Why was she even learning all these things, traveling across half the globe just to watch someone die?</p><p>Of course, she knew that this was dramatic and irrational thinking, but she wanted to allow herself that kind of pity. The third shot in front of her was downed. She hated it – hated the taste of alcohol, any kind really – but she liked the way it made her feel, so she drank it. Hard liquor got her drunk quickly and she didn’t have to drink a lot of it. Yet the melancholic feeling didn’t leave her this time and was seemingly only intensified by the lights. They weren’t as bright. They usually flung around the room, illuminating whatever inch of the place came in its way. Pulsing greens, reds and purples had been replaced by slow-moving blue and red. The lights almost sweeping across the crowd, taking up all the energy and somehow making it visible. </p><p>“Why is it so different today?” she asked the bartender.</p><p>“It’s couples’ night,” he answered her.</p><p>She looked around the room and noticed that, besides her, everyone else was accompanied by a lover that stuck close to their side – or some other part. Considering how traditional the north was said to be, she found that at least the younger generation seemed to be less so.</p><p>“Great,” she laughed, “And I’m the only one brooding at the bar.”</p><p>That was until she noticed that the man standing in one of the corners. He was about her age and she thought he was staring a little – could have been the bar, or maybe even at her.</p><p>Something about him piqued her interest. His proportions were a little off. He looked thin and his clothes hung awkwardly to his body. Even though the shots hadn’t fully settled into her bloodstream yet, she had to concentrate in order to read his aura in between the bright ones on the dancefloor.</p><p>She tried not to stare at him for too long – men usually read that kind of curiosity the wrong way. His energy was strange, but she couldn’t place it. Maybe she was just off. Nonetheless, he noticed her, too. The one thing that wasn’t off about him, was the smile. He seemed nice and she was glad that he didn’t have that predatory look in his eyes – the one, every woman knew.</p><p>When she left the bar to smoke a little, he followed her. “Hey there,” he said. The way he had emphasized the words, curtly reminding her of Izumi.</p><p>“Hi, can I help you?” she smiled, “You’ve been staring a little.”</p><p>“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled – unsure, “I had just seen you around the bar a lot and, well, most others. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here other than the past months. So, I thought I’d take the opportunity at hand and chat a little.”</p><p>“You mean, because it’s couples’ night and we’re the only two people here without a date?”</p><p>“No, not like that. But, well, yes, I don’t have anyone to talk to. So are you here on vacation?”</p><p>She shook her head, smiling. “No, I’m here to train.”</p><p>His eyes lit up. “Waterbending?”</p><p><em>Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so excited about waterbending.</em> “Mostly healing – so kind of.” She looked him up and down then offered her blunt. “Do you want some?”</p><p>“Sure,” he said, and took it from her carefully.</p><p>“How about you? You sound like you’ve grown up here.” She watched him puff out some smoke, before answering.</p><p>“I have. I’m also a bender, but my mom doesn’t want me to train.”</p><p>“Why not? You seem very much old enough to make your own decision on that. Besides, you should be able to defend yourself.”</p><p>“Why would I have to defend myself? There’s no danger…hasn’t been for a long time…the war has been over for more than 30 years.”</p><p>“Yeah, you don’t have to remind me,” she grimaced. She could already tell, they wouldn’t become friends any time in the future. He seemed so unsure and now that she stood closer to him, his aura just read as nervous and maybe scared.<em> What is he scared for?</em></p><p>He shrugged his shoulders and drew on the blunt. “So what’s your name, anyways?”</p><p>“Kya. Yours?”</p><p>“Secret.”</p><p>Kya looked at him in confusion, before realizing that he was hinting that he wasn’t going to tell her and that his name wasn’t actually ‘secret’. She decided to make it a nickname.</p><p>“Well then, "Secret." Do you want me to teach you some basic forms?”</p><p>“Oh no, I know how to waterbend. I like to think I’m actually quite good at it, but my mother is too much of a pacifist to allow it.”</p><p>She smiled to herself thinking about how she was the worlds’ most pacifistic person’s daughter. Then she thought about how she’d feel if someone forbade her to bend. “Why would she forbid that? It’s part of who you are. Part of your identity,” she protested, feeling the anger rising quickly within her.</p><p>“Well, there <em>was</em> an incident.” He got quiet.</p><p>Now it was her turn to be intrigued. Of course there had to be more to it. “Are you gonna tell me about it?”</p><p>He shot her an assessing glance but didn't answer.</p><p><em>So he needs even more encouragement.</em> She could feel the alcohol starting to settle in and herself growing more impatient. “Come on, tell me! I’m not going to stay here long enough to get you into trouble for anything you tell me.”</p><p>He seemed to be needing little convincing, as he softened up again and after looking around if anyone was listening in on their conversation he spoke. “I bloodbend. I can do it even when there isn’t a full moon.”</p><p>She flinched at his words. In her mind the way she looked at the situation was already shifting. She drew most of her calmness and so called light-heartedness from the fact that if any situation were to go south, she could always gain the upper hand, because thanks to her legacy – sometimes it did come in handy – she was usually a better bender than the person she was confronted with. Not this time. He was more powerful if he had the skill, he claimed he did. She didn’t like how it made her feel. She had underestimated him.</p><p>He seemed to have taken note since he apparently felt the need to calm her again. “Don’t be scared. It’s not like I use it.” He smirked.</p><p>He said it so casually. “Why do you say it like you’re proud? It’s bloodbending!” she hissed, before scolding herself for reacting the way she did. She had always wanted to ask her mother about it, but her questions had been dodged successfully. “I’m sorry,” she said, “It’s just…”</p><p>“Illegal?” he smiled, “So is your lily-weed, by the way.”</p><p>“That’s different. I can’t hurt anyone with it.”</p><p>“I know what you mean, I was just trying to lighten up the mood again.”</p><p>They stayed quiet for minute, hating herself for reacting exactly like her mother always had when she’d brought up the topic. After considering her next words, she was the one to break the silence.</p><p>“Can you tell me what it’s like?”</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>Why was he so casual about it? It was the most dangerous form of bending, her parents always made sure to remind her of it. She was too interested to let that stop her now.</p><p>“It’s not as cruel and merciless as everyone says, you know. There are good sides to it.”</p><p><em>How? What good could it do?</em> Then, because this was exactly what she had come out to the bar for – a distraction – she simply asked, “Will you show me?”</p><p>He hesitated. “What do you mean, show you?”</p><p>“Come with me. I will take full responsibility if we get in any trouble. I promise.”</p><p>They went to the outer corner of the city and left to stand inside her igloo.</p><p>“Show me,” she repeated, laying down on her furs, relaxing her body.</p><p>“I haven’t done it in a long while. I don’t want to hurt you.”</p><p>“It’s fine, I’m tough and I’m a healer. I can take it. Don’t worry. Just use my arm.”</p><p>He seemed rather uncomfortable. “I don’t know if this was a good idea.”</p><p>She shot him a daring glance and tried her best to look convincing. “Come on, don’t back out now! Just do it once.”</p><p>“Fine,” he gave in raising his arms slowly and closing his eyes to concentrate, “Once.”</p><p>She prepared herself for what it would feel like, but it came differently than she would have expected. She felt the skin around her hand tighten, like a hand was clenching it, then it felt like her muscles were cramping all at once and she grimaced at the feeling. A tingling sensation spread across her arm as she lost control over the extremity, which kept shaking and contorting unnaturally moving towards the ceiling until he stopped moving his fingers and her arm fell numb to her side. The fur underneath her skin felt weird, like she was touching it through some kind of glove, like she’d lain on the arm for too long. She got up slowly, the arm almost weighing her down.</p><p>“Are you ok?” he asked, approaching her, “Did I hurt you?”</p><p>She shook her head, touching along her arm. “That was the weirdest feeling ever,” she finally murmured.</p><p>He looked at her once more, regret all over his features, then made his way to the entrance.</p><p>“Hey, where are you going?” Kya asked. She had so many questions now – even more than before.</p><p>“I shouldn’t have let you talk me into doing this.” He said it calmly, but she could see the panic rising to his face again.</p><p>With a few quick steps she stood in front of him, preventing him from leaving. He looked down at her, at her arm, then her face again. He was the first person to talk to her about the taboo and she wanted to know all about it. He had to stay, so she did the one thing she had found would make people stop in their tracks. She kissed him. Their lips didn’t touch long before he jerked away.</p><p>“What the fuck! Is this some kind of kink for you?”</p><p>The disgust in his voice stung deep in her core. This time she didn’t resist when he pushed past her to leave. A few moments passed, but she quickly realized how glad she was that he hadn’t reciprocate the kiss. There hadn’t been any real attraction from her part, after all. She wryly. <em>At least that’s something I’m sure about.</em></p><p>A few moments passed before she lay down on her bed. She thought about what had just happened. Her arm still felt a little numb. If her mother knew, spirits, if anyone knew… A sudden wave of guilt washed over her and she curled up under the furs. </p><p>Kya felt even guiltier when she realized that the bloodbending hadn’t actually hurt, when it suddenly didn’t seem as dangerous as her parents had told her it was. Sure the cramps had been extremely uncomfortable, but that had left when the tingling had taken over. <em>It must be different when it concerns the whole body,</em> she thought and at that she understood how much power she had just given to a complete stranger, how much blind trust she had put into a person she didn’t even know. It scared her. What had she been thinking?</p><p>“I’m sorry,” she whispered, feeling the need to apologize to someone – anyone. She wished she could talk about her experience; with Bumi or in this case another waterbender.</p><p>She made a note to herself that she couldn’t ever do something so reckless again – not ever. But the questions didn’t leave her be. Her mind worked hard, processing the interaction. Why did her mother have such a strong aversion to it? How did it relate to the moon? Why not use it for doing good? She sighed. And then the reason she had left her igloo in the first place came back. That patient. He could have been saved, couldn’t he? The cause of death was a blood clot. It could have been dissolved with bending and he would have lived. She could have done something. Her teacher could have done something. Were the healers aware of this? They had to be. So an even worse question arose: did they deliberately keep this information to themselves? Did they have some kind of stupid code that prevented them from helping in this way? She wanted to know, wanted answers. Should she just ask the older healer? What if she kicked her out of her school for being too curious about the forbidden practice? </p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>[the next day]</p><p>“You look tired today,” the healer mentioned.</p><p>“I didn’t sleep well tonight. I’m fine though.”</p><p>“What happened to your arm?” she asked concerned, noticing how Kya’s qi didn’t flow as strongly.</p><p>“Nothing, I just lay on it while sleeping, it’s still a little numb.”</p><p>The older woman seemed to believe her.</p><p>“Can I ask you something?” Kya murmured.</p><p>“Of course, what is it?”</p><p>“Why is bloodbending illegal? Why isn’t it used for healing purposes?”</p><p>The older woman looked at her student in disbelief. “Why do you have these questions?”</p><p>“I just never talked about it with my mother.”</p><p>“Why would you want to?” the other woman huffed.</p><p>“Because it’s part of my potential abilities and if I can be told that it’s illegal, I deserve to at least know its story!” she exclaimed confidently.</p><p>The healer sighed. “I suppose we can talk about it for a while. But please refrain from mentioning it to anyone.”</p><p>Kya nodded eagerly.</p><p>“Anyone!” she emphasized.</p><p>“I promise,” said Kya.</p><p>They put the water aside and the older woman gestured for Kya to sit down next to her. </p><p>“What do you want to know?”</p><p>She knew she wouldn’t be allowed to ask a lot of question, the tension already building in the air around them. She had to choose wisely. “Well, why don’t we use bloodbending to help others. It doesn’t even hurt when it isn’t done with the intention of causing pain.” She noticed the way the other woman looked at her and quickly added, “I mean, I can imagine it being like that.”</p><p>“You’re going to have to get better at lying, Kya. It will do you good, seeing as you seem to get yourself in some dangerous situations.”</p><p>Kya swallowed hard, feeling guilty yet again. For getting caught and for letting her words slip.</p><p>“Is that why your arm is numb? Did someone do this to you?” The tone in her voice was one of worry, protectiveness even.</p><p>“Not without permission.”</p><p>“Kya!” the tone changed to an accusing one, “Who was it?”</p><p>“No one. It was my decision. I just wanted to know what it’s like.”</p><p>A sigh escaped the older woman’s mouth, bearing the tell-tale signs of exhaustion. “You’re too curious for your own good. Give me your arm.”</p><p>Kya obliged and watched, as the healer drew water from a basin and wrapped it around her numb extremity before sending it to glow. She felt the soothing cold and the release of whatever had been blocked inside. Sensation returned quickly, though the water remained on her for a little while longer, before being bent back into the basin.</p><p>“Better?”</p><p>“Yes, thank you.” She was curious. “Is that normal?” Maybe that man hadn’t been as capable as he had led her to believe.</p><p>“Yes, it’s quite normal. At least with the victims of bloodbending I have encountered. Not many, that is.”</p><p>Kya nodded committing the feeling of the release to her memory. “So why isn’t it used for healing purposes? We could stop bleedings, for example.”</p><p>“We could clot the blood by bending it. If those clots travel through the body, it becomes dangerous. You know that very well by now.”</p><p>She knew about blood clots. Once with her mother she had removed one from a patient and she still remembered that she’d had to swallow down the urge to throw up as it had left the man’s mouth. Of course, that had been nothing in comparison to seeing how the last breath had left the man’s body the day before. How he had looked so lifeless. </p><p>“But it would only be superficial wounds, cuts and open wounds. I didn’t mean inside the body.” She pondered for a moment before continuing her thought aloud. “But that should work, too, shouldn’t it? Massaging the heart by bending it instead of crushing a Patients ribs, while performing first aid. Wouldn’t that be more efficient? You could help multiple people at once, as well.”</p><p>The healer’s expression kept switching from worried to intrigued. “You have to stop talking about it like that,” she finally said.</p><p>“Why? Those are good ideas!” Kya protested. She felt the familiar frustration build up inside her again, “Why is everyone so scared of talking about this?”</p><p>“Because it can be so dangerous. Your heart-massaging can turn to heart-crushing in a matter of seconds. The technique of draining water from a plant is the same for a human body, leaving it dry. There's the risk of not moving the blood correctly, at its normal pace. Too slow and you might leave the patient’s heart in shock, causing it to stop. Too fast and you might overwhelm the blood vessels. If the healer can’t control their power perfectly it leads to more damage. There is no room for mistakes, no room for misjudging your own abilities. Bloodbending isn’t something you can train and refine, not without hurting a living being in the process. It goes against everything we as healers stand for.”</p><p>“But it’s not hurting if you do good with it, if you heal wounds with it, close gashes, slow someone from bleeding to death, buy time for the real healing to start,” Kya protested yet again, in spite of seeing her teacher getting more and more frustrated with her.</p><p>“It’s not only about physical hurt,” she exclaimed, her voice louder than before, “It’s about free will, Kya. It’s about consent and free will. You take someone’s freedom away when you bend their blood. It’s an intrusion. It’s deeply personal. And even if they gave you the consent, they still give up their freedom. And someone’s freedom is never something you’re supposed to have power over. Never.”</p><p>“But-“</p><p>“No, enough. You have to stop that fascination of yours.” The words were firm but calm again.</p><p>Kya sat in silence for a moment, not having processed the meaning behind their conversation. “Fine. Not like I ever wanted to try it,” she murmured, still taken aback by how enraged the woman had been mere seconds ago.</p><p>“You’re getting better at lying already,” the older woman acknowledged. </p><p>Kya rolled her eyes at the remark before becoming serious again. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I just have so many questions,” she admitted.</p><p>“It’s alright. Just-“ She hesitated, “just don’t forget how much destruction it can cause.”</p><p>“What happens if someone is caught bloodbending?” she mustered up the courage to ask one last question.</p><p>“Some get put away for a while.”</p><p>“And others?”</p><p>“Others have to be put down while they’re still doing it. I have seen it once. I hope I never have to again. They get a hungry look in their eyes while bending. Like they don’t want to stop, like they don’t have enough control over themselves to stop.”</p><p>Kya felt fear creeping up inside her, imagining how no one could have helped her if the man had become hungry like her teacher described. She tried to make her expression stay as neutral as she could manage. “Thank you for answering my questions.”</p><p>“You’re welcome. We won’t be speaking of this again.”</p><p>Kya smiled at the way she could hear the implied ‘ever’ in the older woman’s voice. She nodded.</p><p>“Go home now. You need rest for the session tomorrow. We’re going to do something different.”</p><p>Before she left the hut, the older healer spoke again. “I know this is because of what happened the other day. We can talk about <em>that</em> if you need to. It was your first one, I know that, but you have to get used to the fact that we can’t help everyone. It’s just not meant like that.”</p><p>Kya nodded, not wanting to admit, how right the woman might actually be. </p><p><em>Not meant like that.</em> On the way to her igloo she replayed their conversation again and again in her head, fusing it together with the experience she had made the day earlier. An experience that seemed so far away, now that her arm wasn’t numb anymore, she had a hard time remembering the sensation.</p><p>She understood that bloodbending could be dangerous and she had felt the power and control be taken from her when her arm had been manipulated into different positions. With power came the craving for acquiring more of it and she thought about how horribly wrong it could go if someone got too addicted to the power of having someone at their complete mercy. Still, somewhere deep inside her she thought that it would have to be of some use. She couldn’t just watch someone die like that again, watching if she knew she could do something about it. After all, that’s what it meant to be a healer: Mending the broken and easing the pain to one’s best abilities.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Blankets and birthdays</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A new, very interesting acquaintance and Kya's birthday. How many letters will she get, congratulating her?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you to the dearest pasta, @Linguini, for beta-reading this! :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been getting even colder for a while now, so Kya decided to look for a thicker blanket than the one she had begun her travels with. She entered the small store where she had previously found the fur and roamed the stands. The scent of burnt wood and a few herbs – some she could name by now – lingered around her. She found a cabinet full of furs, pillows and blankets. A sigh escaped her when she touched one of them. They were incredibly soft and though she had been sleeping well – most nights anyways – she missed the feeling of having a real bed underneath her.</p><p>“What’s got you so emotional over a blanket?” someone chuckled.</p><p>Kya smiled, turning around in search for a face to match the pleasant voice. She was not disappointed.</p><p>The woman walked over from behind the counter and approached her. She was as tall as Kya, which startled her, since most people weren’t. Her hair was cut at her shoulders and even darker than Kya's own, beautifully wavy. <em>Get your shit together,</em> Kya told herself sternly.</p><p>“I’m not emotional over a blanket,” she protested playfully, “I’m just very intrigued by that one.” Her finger pointing at the brown one, made from an especially fluffy material. .</p><p>“It’s a good one. I have it at home myself,” the woman said, taking it from its place on the shelf. Kya watched the fluid movements of the woman; they reminded her of the waterbending forms she went through each evening. Her mother had always emphasized how repetition could improve even the most talented benders, so it had become part of her routine – one she kept to on her travels as well.</p><p>The woman smiled at her and took the blanket to the counter.</p><p>“I haven’t even decided if I want that one, yet, ” Kya said, putting her hands on her hips in disapproval.</p><p>The woman’s eyes flickered down, noticing her stance, and she smiled. “Yes, you have,” she said, “The others aren’t as soft, or as warm and it’s been getting colder lately, so you’ll probably need it. And if you set out to get a blanket anyway, you’re leaving with this one.”</p><p>It had gotten colder, and she was here to buy one. The woman was right, there was no point in denying it. Kya simply huffed and followed her, glancing at her now and then. She had a beautiful face and even underneath the many layers of clothing Kya could see that her body wasn’t any less so. Wide hips, leading to long legs, moving swiftly through the aisles. To her own surprise she rather quickly thought about how nice it would be to have her own intertwined with them.</p><p>“Anything else, you’re looking for?” that voice asked.</p><p>Kya diverted her gaze upwards again, noticing with relief that she hadn’t been caught staring, as the woman’s back was still turned to her. Thank Raava. “I don’t know. Don’t think there’s anything I really need,” she answered, looking around the store. As the words left her lips, her eye caught sight of a few stationery items. Walking over to them, she could hear the woman’s steps following her, almost immediately. “You gonna follow me everywhere?” she giggled, turning around to show the expression of mock-offence that quickly settled on her face</p><p>“Gotta make sure you don’t put anything in your pockets,” the woman answered smugly, looking down the waterbender’s parka. </p><p>Kya was surprised by the shiver the look sent down her spine. Nodding slowly, she turned to face the pens and notebooks in front of her. The beautiful arrangement made it hard to choose just one, but she certainly wanted one now. “Are those handmade?” she asked, taking a brown one into her hands to feel the texture of the fine leather.</p><p>“Yes, they are. Do you like them?”</p><p>“They’re very beautiful,” she said, while lifting the cover and watching the pages fall on their own. “How much is it?”</p><p>“You can have that one for free if you’re taking the blanket.”</p><p>Kya looked at her, confused. “But it’s art! You should be rewarded for it.” She watched the smile that appeared on the woman’s face, resting her gaze on her dark lips before speaking again, “And I thought I didn’t have a say in whether I’m taking the blanket or not.”</p><p>Their eyes met again and Kya felt a shiver once more, keeping her composure nonetheless. </p><p>“Of course you do. I just thought you’d take my advice. Seeing as I know my products best.”</p><p>“I’ll take both the blanket and the notebook, but I’m paying for them.”</p><p>They went back to the counter. “Do you have a name?” Kya asked, walking closely behind her.</p><p>“Yes,” she answered.</p><p>Kya waited. Silence. “Well, are you going to tell me? What is it with you people here?”</p><p>“You’re not from here, are you?” the woman laughed lightheartedly, “My name is Elva. Yours?”</p><p>“Secret,” Kya shot back, using the answer that had been thrown in her face a few weeks ago.</p><p>“You know what?,” she shot Kya a testing glance, “Reward me  – as you put it – for the notebook by telling me your name.” Her tone was different now. Kya couldn’t really place it. If they had been in a bar in Republic City, she would have been certain that it was flirtatious, but they weren’t. They were at the North Pole, where everything was different. More private…more traditional.</p><p>She smiled placing both blanket and notebook under her arm. With the free hand she took coins out of her pocket. Enough for the blanket and what she estimated the notebook would cost. She leaned forward, her face now inches away from the woman’s and placed the coins on the counter. The soothing herbal scent came from the woman.</p><p>“Kya,” she smiled, before leaning back again and making her way to the door.</p><p>“See you around, Kya,” Elva said, following the young woman with her eyes.</p><p>Kya waved and left the store with a growing grin on her face.</p><p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>That evening, while going through her forms, she replayed their encounter over and over again, trying to figure out if Elva had been as drawn to her as she had felt. She had a hard time guessing her age. After taking into consideration that she was running her own store, how long it had to take to be financially stable enough to be able to just hand out notebooks for free and the lines that had already manifested slightly on the woman’s face, she came to the conclusion that she must have been at least ten years older than her. Then a different thought pushed into her line of thinking. She had never been with anyone besides Izumi and that had mostly been experimenting and finding out what each of them liked. Would her skills be enough? Would it become awkward if they tried? But the way her body – and likely her aura – had reacted to Elva, she hadn’t sensed that with anyone, not even Izumi. Of course she was very fond of her, but Elva? Elva was different. Entirely different. So very enticing in her own way. She thought about going back to the store, but now it had to be closed and she was far too tired. Maybe she would visit her in the coming days. She was eager to find out whether or not she stood a chance. <em>A little company now and then wouldn’t hurt,</em> she thought to herself as she pulled the new blanket over her body. “She was right. This is a great blanket.” She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but it gave her some sense of safety – home even. After all her Dad had taught her, that she was never truly alone, anywhere she went.</p><p>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ </p><p>Two days later, Kya was handed  three letters that had been sent to the school and that her teacher had put aside for her.  She shuffled through them curiously.</p><p>“Who wrote you this time?”</p><p>Kya smiled at the papers in front of her, “Bumi.”</p><p>“Your brother?”</p><p>“Yes. And my uncle wrote, too.”</p><p>“That one looks fancy. Who’s it from?”</p><p>Kya brushed her thumb across the red wax seal, memories flashing before her inner eye of a young woman in a gigantic palace. “A dear friend of mine.” </p><p>The healer smiled sweetly. “You look disappointed.” She said after watching Kya for a while.</p><p>“I just thought there would be one from my parents, that’s all.”</p><p>“Any reason?”</p><p>“It’s my birthday,” Kya answered.</p><p>“Well, congratulations are in order then.” The woman took Kya by the shoulders and pulled her in for a tight hug. “Happy birthday,” she said, before letting go.</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>“And don’t worry, maybe the letter will arrive in a few days.”</p><p>Kya nodded, not fully convinced, but smiling.</p><p>---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>After the day’s lesson was over, she practically ran back to her igloo in anticipation of the letters and stories they contained.</p><p>Slipping her parka off her shoulders and letting it fall to the ground, she lay on her fur and opened the first one. Uncle Sokka’s writing was big and messy, almost as bad as Bumi’s.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>A warm hello to my favorite niece.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kya giggled at the first line. She always loved it when he called her his favorite niece. Considering as he didn’t have any others it wasn’t hard to fill that position.</p><p>She read the letter, wishing her a happy birthday, explaining how he had managed to come up with the perfect plan to ensure that the letter would arrive exactly on the right day. She smiled and couldn’t help feeling guilty for not having written him, or anyone, a single letter in the past month. She’d wanted to, but never gotten around to it. The healing sessions were getting more and more exhausting, draining her energy. The theoretical part had become predominant in the lessons and on top of it, working on actual patients. Kya found that to be unnerving and anxiety inducing even if she was confident in her abilities.</p><p>She put Uncle Sokka’s letter aside after she finished reading it to open Izumi’s. She hadn’t thought about her in a few weeks, she noticed as she looked at Izumi's elegant writing.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>To my dearest friend,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I hope you settled in well at the northern water tribe. In your last letter you told me about the igloo you had made for yourself. I don’t think I could manage in such a cold environment. I hope this letter reaches you in time. I wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I was thinking about how much you would enjoy the ripe fruit I recently picked with a friend. Yes, most of the servants were confused and I like to think you would have laughed at the faces they made when I told them I was going to pick the fruit myself. (I miss having that laugh around)</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I don’t have a lot of time, so this letter will be rather short. (Princess duties are calling – as always)</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I just wanted to let you know that I wish you well and hope you are thinking of me now and again. The north must have a lot of beautiful girls like you, so I don’t doubt you’re enjoying your stay.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Have a nice day, or evening – depending on when you read this.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Sending love,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Izumi</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She pushed the letter back in its envelope. Izumi's servants had always been rather skeptical of the excursions she would take Izumi on. They let her, of course, because who were they to go against the Firelord in the making. When she reached down to the bottom of her bag, she suddenly noticed how Bumi’s letter seemed to contain more than one sheet of paper. With a new interest, the thoughts surrounding Izumi’s letter were pushed away for another time.</p><p>She eagerly ripped at the envelope. A collection of different sized pieces of paper slid out, falling to the ground.</p><p>A frustrated groan left her mouth as she bent down to pick them back up again. The handwriting wasn’t Bumi’s, at least not on every page. She unfolded them and noticed how they were signed by different people, all friends and family of hers. “I can’t believe it.” She decided to read Bumi’s first. </p><p>She searched the letters, skimming the ones signed by her friends until she found the one she was looking for.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear Kya,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>When I heard of your brother’s idea to collect some letters for you, I set things aside to get right on writing a few words for my favorite daughter.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She smiled to herself. Apparently, her dad had learned some things from her uncle.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I’ve been asking Bumi to tell me what you are up to. He said you were making a lot of progress with your healing and that you had found a lot of friends along the way. I’m so glad you chose to travel around before settling down. Unfortunately, your brothers don’t seem to have that much of an interest in the nomadic part of their heritage.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She’d never thought about it that way, but the travel seemed to gain her a little bit of extra attention – she quite liked it.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I always knew you were going to do way better in the spiritual department. Don’t forget to meditate now and then in your busy life. You always knew best that the connection to yourself is as important as the one to others around you. I wish you a happy birthday and hope you keep making progress. I miss you, Kya. Stay safe and maybe write a letter to your old man once in a while.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Dad</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Besides the one from her mother, where she tried to conceal her worry with weird jokes that made Kya laugh at the absurdity, the letters were all relatively short.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear Sister,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Happy Birthday. I hope you enjoy this little idea. We miss you. Have a good day and don’t drink and smoke too much. (I saw you take some lily-weed in your bag before you left all those months ago and I don’t assume your supply has been cut short since it is apparently a common indulgence in the youth of the northern water tribe.)</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Take care. Yours sincerely,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Tenzin</em>
</p><p> </p><p>“He’s way to grown up for his age,” Kya muttered absentmindedly.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Tenzin said it’s your birthday and I’m happy he asked me to write something, too. I miss you coming over to babysit me – but I don’t need that anymore, I get to stay home alone now.  I bet it’s really cold at the north pole. Here it’s still warm. Promise you’ll come to one of my rehearsals  when you’re back!  Mom said I have to go and train now, she doesn’t want me to stop metalbending. As you remember, that was the condition under which she’d let me dance at all… By the way, I got new dance shoes. They’re so pretty! You’d really like them…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>See you soon, I hope,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Su</em>
</p><p> </p><p>How old was the girl again? She couldn’t guess – she never had been good at that. Kya smiled at how hectic the letter was and tried to think of the young girl. It was the first time she noticed just how long she had already been traveling. It had felt like a few months, and yet it was her second birthday away from home.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Dear Kya,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I wish you a happy birthday. I proofread Su’s letter because there were so many mistakes in there. Ignore the smudges that created.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kya looked at Su’s letter again, noticing how a few words were written in a different style. She hadn’t even noticed. She chuckled when she noticed Su’s name had been written by Lin as well. As though Kya wouldn’t know that the one talking about dancing and new shoes would be Su.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I’m getting really good at bending with the cables and mother will let me apply to the Force as soon as I turn 18. I don’t know what good that information will do you, but Tenzin said I should include it.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Greetings from RC,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Lin Beifong</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Kya smiled at the accuracy of the letter. She could imagine the scene in her head vividly. Tenzin telling her how Kya liked to hear about people’s lives and Lin arguing that hers wouldn’t be very interesting to her. She looked at the name at the end of the letter and how it was more of a signature fit for an official document. Of all the letters, hers was the one with the most meticulous handwriting. She thought back about how much she herself had changed in the past five years – comparing their ages – and if Lin was going through the same rapid growth in mental strength as she was in her bending.</p><p>She read the letters again ending with Bumi’s. <em>I should take his advice.</em> “Let’s go get a drink,” she said aloud to animate herself to get up and actually do it. She didn’t feel like it, still trapped in the melancholic state the letters had left her in: suddenly missing people she hadn’t given much thought since having arrived here. Not even Bumi could convince her now, to go out – maybe if he were here now, in that lonely igloo with her, but he wasn’t. Maybe she’d go to the bar tomorrow, meet some people, have fun, some drinks. The friend-group she’d found never went there on weekdays anyways.</p><p>That night, wrapped in her new blanket and holding her new notebook pad, she began writing:</p><p>
  <em>Dear Dad.</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Patience</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Celebrations come in different forms. Kya meets up with friends, but afterwards she finds other company.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you @Linguini for beta-reading :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She met up with a few friends at the bar. She had met them through one of the other healing students and they had accepted her into the circle, so when they’d found out about her birthday, they wanted to celebrate it.</p><p>They enjoyed themselves, drinking together, occasionally heading outside for a smoke and coming back in to resume drinking and dancing. When she got a little tired, she went outside to be alone for a while. The music was loud and she wanted to take it easy.</p><p>“Kya,” one of the guys asked – his name started with an A – “You’re not even drinking tonight. You okay?”</p><p>Kya huffed a laugh, “I’m surprised you noticed. The others seem,” she made a vague gesture, “lost in thought.”</p><p>He chuckled. “No but seriously, aren’t you cold out here?”</p><p>“Yeah, fine,” she lied, suddenly glad he wouldn’t be able to tell.</p><p>“My sister told me your patient died last week. Are you like, sad about that still?”</p><p>Kya’s head whipped to the side to look at him. He was grinning innocently and she quickly noticed she’d given him too much credit, when assessing his state of drunkenness. “No, I just need a second where no one’s bothering me,” she snapped back.</p><p>“Shit, I’m so drunk,” he paused to groan, but remembered there was someone standing next to him, “are you mad or something?”</p><p>“Fuck off,” she said, no spite in it and the way he chuckled again, made her question if alcohol was all, that cursed through his blood.</p><p>When he did leave her with a respectful bow of sorts and an offended ‘Sorry for checking in’, she looked around for a quiet corner and settled for an alleyway on the side, trying not to be too visible. She wasn’t stupid after all. Lily-weed had a unique smell and she wasn’t going to let herself get caught that easily.</p><p>She <em>had</em> felt off somehow and didn’t know what the cause might be. Maybe he’d been right. Her teacher had promised her she could partake in a difficult case. She knew that sometimes, this was what a healer’s life looked like, one day someone’s dead and the next a new patient comes. But she hadn’t thought she’d experience it this soon. She thought it would feel different – not that she could pinpoint what she meant by that if someone asked her.</p><p>She had just put a blunt in between her lips, fishing for some matches in her purse, when she saw a woman walking across the street.</p><p>“Hey!” she shouted, waving at her. </p><p>“Kya,” the woman came closer, smiling, coming to a halt a few steps away from her. She was wearing a thick coat and her hair was hidden away under a brown woolen hat. It was then that Kya noticed how cold the sides of her face were getting.</p><p>“It’s pretty late, what’cha doin out?” Kya asked, lowering the hand, holding her blunt. The bar was pretty close to Elva’s store. Had she been at work until now? It was so late.</p><p>“I could ask you the same question,” Elva smiled. “I was just on my way home.”</p><p>“Got any kids?” Kya knew it was bold to just ask about her personal life like that, but while she remembered the privacy-obsessed lifestyle in the city, she was a little too interested to care all that much about politeness and respecting people’s privacy.</p><p>“No kids,” Elva shook her head, apparently not minding the question, “No husband either.”</p><p>Kya smiled at the tone in her voice, “Sorry to hear that,” she said, feigning compassion.</p><p>“It’s fine, really,” Elva smirked, crossing her arms, “So what are you doing out?”</p><p>“Celebrating,” Kya said, putting the blunt back in her bag.</p><p>“Don’t put it away because of me. I’m not <em>that</em> traditional.”</p><p>“And just <em>how</em> traditional are you?” Kya asked, moving closer until their faces were only a few inches apart. She could see the small cloud Elva’s breath created, felt the crossed arms against her stomach even through the thick parka and that recognizable herbal scent met her nose.</p><p>“You’re very curious,” Elva commented, gaze focused on Kya’s with no intent of backing away.</p><p>“Too curious?” she asked, suddenly doubting herself, eyes flickering to the lips in front of her. <em>Too late now. Hold your ground,</em> she reminded herself.</p><p>“I didn’t say <em>that</em>,” Elva whispered, bringing a hand up to Kya’s chin, tapping it’s underside twice, inviting her closer.</p><p>Kya could feel her breath against her lips once more before they finally met, eyes fluttering shut at the sensation. They parted again – <em>too soon</em>, Kya thought.</p><p>“Just curious enough,” Elva’s soft voice reached her ear, “A little obvious, too.”</p><p>Kya pulled her closer at the waist searching for contact. The second kiss deepened quickly and she felt that familiar shiver down her back. And then Elva broke away rather abruptly.</p><p>“Are you ok? Did I do something wrong?” Kya asked, confused.</p><p>“No, you’re fine. Just-“ she looked around, “Just not here. Where are you staying?”</p><p>Kya swallowed hard at the implication in the question and the excitement she felt, “Outside the city. I bent myself an igloo.”</p><p>Elva laughed her light laugh, somehow intoxicating to her now that they had kissed. “You do know how funny that sounds, right?”</p><p>Kya smiled sheepishly, her confidence fading.</p><p>“Let’s go there,” Elva said, taking a step back.</p><p>Kya looked towards the bar, where the music was coming from.</p><p>“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Elva said as she noticed Kya’s strained expression, “I may have misread the situation. I just thought with the way you were kissing me that-“</p><p>Kya cut her off, “No, I <em>do</em> want to. Wait here, I’ll tell my friends I’ll be heading in for the night.”</p><p>“Right, celebrating,” she remembered, “You really don’t have to, or if you do want to, we can do this another time, I can wait.”</p><p>“I can’t,” Kya breathed, biting her lip, “Besides, they’re too drunk to notice I’m not there.”</p><p>“Go ahead then. I’ll be here.”</p><p>----------------------------------------------------------------------- </p><p>“Cozy.”</p><p>Kya rolled her eyes as Elva took in the minimalistic design of her temporary home.</p><p>“I don’t need much. Better to travel light,” Kya explained, shrugging her parka down to fall to the floor.</p><p>“Sure you’re alright with this?” Elva asked when Kya started taking hers off as well, standing behind her.</p><p>“Of course,” Kya reassured her, before turning her around by the shoulders and drawing their faces together. She noticed the slight flickering of the lamp on the floor even through her closed lids.</p><p>“You taste of alcohol,” Elva breathed, “We’re not doing this, if you’re drunk.”</p><p>Kya groaned in frustration, “It was one sip of a friends drink before I decided I didn’t want more,” she told her. “Besides, I tasted like that when you kissed me earlier and you didn’t have any complaints then.”</p><p>“I was focused on other things.” Elva looked at her, clearly assessing whether she was telling the truth.</p><p>“It’s very sweet how you care so much, but I assure you I’m fine, I didn’t drink and I want this,” she hummed, joining their lips again. She licked against Elva’s lips, inviting her to open her mouth further and she did. There were no more protests from her side as they continued on. Kya got warmer and warmer as her body responded to the kisses and touches. She felt arousal pooling in between her legs as the moments passed.</p><p>Kya tried to undress them further, but Elva took her hands and stopped her. “Slower,” she said, placing the younger woman’s hands on her own hips, “we’ve got time.”</p><p>“I know,” Kya breathed between increasingly hungry kisses, “I just want to feel you.”</p><p>Elva smiled against her, separating their lips and grazing hers against Kya’s jaw. Then downward, finding purchase on her neck and kissing against it. Lightly, then harder, light again, drawing out a moan.</p><p>“Have you done this before?” she asked Kya. Piercing eyes met her own, as the young woman nodded.</p><p>Elva failed to conceal her surprise.</p><p>“Why? Do I seem that inexperienced?” Kya asked mockingly.</p><p>“No, it’s just not that easy to find someone who’s <em>like-minded</em> up here.”</p><p>Kya’s voice shrunk a little as she answered, “Well, it was only one other girl.”</p><p>Elva’s smirk re-appeared and she whispered, “So would you mind if I took the lead?”</p><p>Kya barely contained the whimper, building in her throat at the sound of Elva’s voice so close to her ear, breath grazing against her skin.</p><p>“Do what you want, I’ll tell you if it’s too much,” Kya promised her, “Now, will you <em>please</em> continue?”</p><p>Elva brought her hands to rest on either side of Kya’s hips, bringing her mouth down to the waterbender’s neck again.</p><p>Kya enjoyed the soft touches and how she didn’t have to tell Elva what to do, where to kiss, because she already seemed to know. The woman knew what she was doing to her and though Kya wanted her to go faster, she didn’t dare say anything – intrigued by how this would unravel. Her breath hitched, when the hands on her hips slipped under her tunic, pushing the fabric upwards, torturously slow. Elva’s fingers touching her skin intensified the dancing feeling in her stomach. “Why are you going so slow?” she asked when the heat between her legs became near unbearable.</p><p>“You are way too impatient,” Elva murmured against her cheek, “those goosebumps tell me, you like it slow.” Her fingers grazed Kya’s stomach pushing the fabric of her tunic upwards and pulling it off her while leaning back a little.</p><p>Kya stood there in her bindings and skirt, arms on her sides as Elva took in the sight. “Your body is beautiful.”</p><p>“Thank you,” Kya smiled feeling heat rising to her cheeks again before leaning back in, searching the woman’s lips. She felt her bindings being unwound by hands circling her breasts, caressing her sides, flowing to her back, coming around to the front over and over again, building more and more tension. She was so different than Izumi and yet, just as caring. The fabric joined the tunic on the floor. Kya slipped her own hands underneath the other woman’s sweater, immediately finding soft skin.</p><p>Kya heard a moan and felt it against her skin, too. It was intoxicating. Her hands touched unbound breasts and she lost herself in the sensation of warmness against her fingertips. Kya was so concentrated on her own hands that the one wandering down her front almost caught her by surprise. She couldn’t help a moan escaping into the older woman’s mouth as her fingers found their way inside Kya’s skirt. She had learned with Izumi that the sound could be encouraging and that there was no shame in making it, though it had always made Izumi’s cheeks blush, when she’d drawn them from Kya.</p><p>Elva kept going, pushing Kya’s underwear aside, sliding her fingers through the slickness that had already collected underneath the slip. She felt Kya’s body tremble against hers slightly.</p><p>“Lay down,” she said, and Kya was glad to oblige.</p><p>The fur caressed her back as she laid down, while Elva pulled the skirt and underwear off with a rather swift motion, before kneeling in between Kya’s legs. There was a crinkling noise and Kya lifted her hips, retrieving the letter from underneath herself. Bumi.</p><p>“What’s that?” Elva asked, breathing heavily, taking the letter from her hands.</p><p>“Just one of my letters.”</p><p>Elva skimmed it, lazily tracing her hand across Kya’s stomach as not to undo all the progress she’d made so far. “So that’s what you were celebrating.”</p><p>Kya sighed, reacting to the light touch. She could feel her pulse quickening every time Elva’s hand swept over her abdomen and she saw her muscles twitching underneath. Knowing it was a reflex didn’t make it any less fascinating to her. “Yes, it was my birthday,” she smiled, taking the page to let it glide to the floor. “Where were we?”</p><p>Elva chuckled, bringing her hand to Kya’s back and lifting her up to sit and meet her in a kiss. She felt a jolt in her lower stomach at the sensation of Kya’s back muscles moving under her fingers. </p><p>“If you’re going to torture me like this, at least let me see you, too,” Kya whined, gripping and tugging at the seam of the other woman’s sweater. When she didn’t hear any protest, she pulled it off her. Now she saw what her hands had touched and Kya smiled at the sight, drawing a line down in between the woman’s breasts.</p><p>“You’re so beautiful,” she whispered into the room. They locked eyes and exchanged a smile, before Elva straddled one of Kya’s legs and leaned down to rejoin their lips. Kya pressed her further against herself, becoming more addicted to the skin on skin contact, their torsos touching almost completely.</p><p>When she felt a hand traveling down, her stomach leapt again and as the fingers slid down further, she couldn’t help but arch into the touch, trying to gain more friction. “Spirits,” she breathed, not knowing how else to get rid of the building tension inside her.</p><p>Elva smiled against her lips, enjoying how much Kya seemed to ache for the touch.</p><p>“Keep going,” Kya said, expecting another question to be thrown her way. Her head was too clouded to wait or form a coherent sentence. She felt a shudder go through her body when a finger slid up and down her lower lips, still not fast enough. “Please,” she whined pushing her hips forward again as Elva supplied a finger, entering her – slowly.</p><p>“You ok?” she asked after stroking her thumb across the bundle of nerves. </p><p>“I’m fine, don’t stop,” Kya said. She felt Elva’s finger wiggling inside her, mapping her. “I like two,” her heart hammering at the admission. She hadn’t brought it up to Izumi, not even knowing why.</p><p>“Do you now?” Elva teased, the huskiness in her voice dissipating all of the embarrassment Kya tried so hard not to feel.</p><p>“Yes,” she breathed.</p><p>The strokes on Kya’s clit were lazy as another finger was added inside her, before withdrawing almost entirely and pushing back inside, curling slightly, being retracted again.</p><p>The warmth on top of her, the lips traveling the side of her neck, the digits inside her, the thumb stroking slowly. Kya didn’t have any concept of how long they had been at this, but she felt like the slowness of it all unexpectedly increased her pleasure all the more.</p><p>Elva’s lips made way across Kya’s chest and she let the sighs and occasional moans fall from her mouth now, without second thought. </p><p>Elva’s arm was pressed in between them, and strangely enough Kya liked feeling it move against her stomach with every other movement. Having no way of predicting them, but knowing what their goal was, sent thrills through her whole body. She would most likely not last very long. Just as she thought that, Elva readjusted her angle, but kept going, sending another rush through her body. Kya could already feel her muscles tensing.</p><p>“Not yet,” Elva whispered, the words somehow pushing her even closer. Could Elva tell? They didn’t even know each other. Was it something she would be able to do, too? Would she be able to tell when Elva would get close?</p><p>Another moan escaped her at the thought. She dug her hands in Elva’s back, signaling she wouldn’t hold out much longer, hoping she’d increase the speed – even just a little. Instead Elva almost stopped completely, before burying her fingers deep inside, curling upwards again and pressing her thumb down on the most sensitive part.</p><p>“Now,” she hummed, the vibration against Kya’s neck sending her over the edge. The orgasm was dull at first but intensified quickly, spreading throughout her whole body for a long moment, forcing her eyes shut.</p><p>Elva kept stroking lightly to prolong the way Kya clung onto her for support – Kya’s inner walls still clenching around her fingers. She dragged another strangled moan out of her, before withdrawing the hand from in between their legs.</p><p>When Kya opened her eyes to meet the gaze above her, soft eyes watched her intently. They stayed like that for a while. Now she understood why all-slow wasn’t necessarily bad.</p><p>“Thank you,” she said simply, at a loss for words, her breathing still heavy.</p><p>“Happy belated birthday,” Elva smirked, placing a kiss to Kya’s lips before sitting back up, to untangle her sweater.</p><p>“What are you doing?” She hadn’t even touched her yet.</p><p>“Getting dressed again. What does it look like to you?”, she chuckled.</p><p>Kya watched, turning on her side, as the woman hid her body away under the thick fabric, not hesitating before collecting the parka from the ground and putting it back on. “Aren’t you going to stay?” she asked, realizing how one-sided the encounter had been, “I just need a minute, then I’ll show you just how sober I am.”</p><p>“No.” The softness in Elva’s voice had disappeared as she chuckled again and made her way to the entrance.</p><p>“One more kiss,” Kya demanded playfully, trying to hide the disappointment she felt.</p><p>Elva turned back around, leaning down to meet Kya’s lips. When she straightened herself back up, Kya rose with her, caressing her arms. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay?”</p><p>Elva looked at her and Kya could see the thoughts running behind her eyes. Elva wanted to.</p><p>“No,” the softness returned one more time, “Thank you for inviting me here and the trust you put in me.”</p><p>Kya nodded, “Is it because of me?”</p><p>“No, Kya.”</p><p>Hearing her name now sounded strange, the flirtatious tone gone, something else taking its place.</p><p>“I’m just a tad less traditional than you may think,” Elva added.</p><p>Kya forced a smile, not understanding, but accepting the answer.</p><p>“Goodnight,” Elva said, looking back once more, before ducking and leaving altogether.</p><p>“Goodnight.” She would find out what it meant, that she was sure of. For now, she let her head drift and her gaze looked downward, eyes skimming over skin that had been touched. Now it was her, looking at herself, feeling alone. She put her hand on her stomach and caressed it for a moment, like Elva had, before dropping it with a sigh, putting on her nightgown and burying herself in the furs and her blanket – a reminder of who she’d rather have there, wrapped around herself.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>